Blueberry Buckle - The Full Monty

If I'm going to the dark side (health wise) I might as well go all the way. In my Healthy Blueberry Buckle recipe I cranked down the fat and simple carbs and ended up at about 150 calories per serving. This is almost double that due to the real butter and sugar I used. The technique varied enough to warrant another post.


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Mark Bittman Corn

A few weeks ago, Mark Bittman of the NY Times had a simple article on grill corn with a Mexican touch. I'm finally getting around to trying it.

It's a good recipe with really good taste and simple. Some mayo with spice. So what's the problem? Well... I have to compare it to a plain grilled corn (see my Naked Grilled Corn post). I just love that char taste with some butter and salt and pepper. I thank is is just me being simple.


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A New Rating System

I have been told (and rightly so) that my rating system has too mainly 8 and 9's. Yep I like my own cooking and I pick recipes that we would like almost for sure. So I don't get much under a 7.

So it's time to modify the system. I saw this somewhere and I'll apologize for stealing an idea and when I found out where I saw it, I'll edit this and give credit. The wording is my own so it's really not stolen anyways.

I will go back and update a lot of the previous recipes over the next few weeks.

Mayonnaise Grilled Bone-in Skin-on (Split) Chicken Breast

A nice change of pace with that mayonnaise taste but mildly spicy. Less than an hour from start to eating.


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Grilled Potato Wedges - A Low Fat Substitute For French Fries

A healthier, simple and low fat way of getting your french fry fix. About 150 calories and 2 grams of healthier fat per large serving, so you are now allowed to eat potatoes occasionally.

While in search of a recipe, most precooked in some way and then added a lot of various flavors but I just wanted basic and simple.

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Herbes de Provence Grilled Pork Tenderloin

The sixth in my Grilled Pork Tenderloin Series. Friends just got back from a wine cruse on a river in France and brought a present, a pack of Herbes de Provence.  The classic French herb mixture was just setting there on the counter saying "us me". So I did.

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Honey Paprika Grill Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast

Sweet and spicy with a quick wet rub that makes this a weeknight recipe with some zip. Serve straight up or serve with your favorite sauce (like my Memphis BBQ Sauce).

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Naked Grilled Corn - The Quick and Easy Way

I love naked corn. Grilled just right with a little char. MMM... GOOD.

I felt compelled to do this post since I have been seeing many other grilled corn articles on the web. Most requiring work. I'm allergic to work that is not necessary and give poorer results. For many years I tried other techniques but I have been using this one for 7-8 years. It's the perfect side with no significant work.

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Address Change

I have a slight change in address. For a mere $10 I have my own domain. All has gone well and all blogspot page load are to go to the new site but it seams some of the widgets are not working well if you have a direct link to this blog.

So...
Old link was : 101cookingfortwo.blogspot.com
New Link is: http://www.101cookingfortwo.com
New Contact Address: DrDan@101cookingfortwo.com

Aug 20 update: I'm still a "blog in transition". My apologies to those blogs on my blog list. I think they have lost you.. If they don't fix it soon I'm going to recreate manually by Monday. If I miss you, let me know. Dan

Grilled Lemon Butter Tilapia

Gone in 60 Seconds. Well not quite, more like 5 minutes. Flaky and tender. Prep and cooking time of 11 minutes. Oh so simple and way up there on the health-o-meter, the taste-o-meter and the I-really-should-do-this-more-o-meter.

Do you want a little spicier treat? Try my Grilled Blackened Tilapia

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A Muzing: Cutting Down the Fat

I'm obsessing some here. Healthy this and low fat that. After all, I had done a blooming onion, french fries and pulled pork. And don't forget the scones... the lovely scones.

What gives? Simply put, our health and weight. We have been over eating and gaining weight. Just too many calories in and not enough calories out. So I'm trying to cook smaller portions and do lower fat. Some exercise and no unnecessary calories. Hence the lower fat and sugar substitutes along with lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

In reality, many of my previous recipes were low fat and healthy anyways. Most of the chicken and all the pork tenderloin. Not so much the ribs.

I'm still trying to follow my principles of simple and good. And stay with the "Cooking for Two" theme. Tonight it was Sour Cream Biscuits (2 g of fat each) with Grilled Lemon Butter Tilapia (just over 1 gram of fat each).

We will see how this goes. I'm trying to follow some other rules about my eating also and will speak about them at the right time.

Healthy Low Fat Burgers

You want a great tasting hamburger but you need low fat. Everybody knows you should have  at least 80/20 hamburger for taste and moisture. That is 20% fat and in my 1/2 lb burger it is over 3 tablespoons of fat. All good recipes call for at least that much fat but IT IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU.We will decrease that by 80% and have great taste and moisture.

This is the best lower fat burger I have ever had.

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Rosemary Garlic Grilled Pork Tenderloin

This is a change of pace for the usual cumin, chili powder or paprika covered tenderloin that I have featured this year. While I love those tastes, I have covered them well already.


I started out with a CI recipe that had ingredients that I wanted but ended up with "drizzling" oil with spices on the cooked meat.  I don't drizzle and adding more oil at the end seemed a little much.

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What to do with leftover beef tenderloin? Philly Sandwich a la grill

Last night we had a whole beef tenderloin with company. We knew we had too much but we never like to come up short. Also it is just so easy just oven roast it to minimize work and maximize talk time.

So I have a pound of cooked beef tenderloin. What to do? I have been want to try a Philly sandwich but hadn't done any research and it was already 6:30 and something need to be done. So I spent 5 minutes getting the french fries cut and going (See Easiest French Fries Ever) then put the griddle on the grill to preheat on high and started cutting.

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Blackened Grilled Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts

A classic blackened taste in a simple and quick recipe for two.


I have a "possible posts" folder in my bookmarks for recipes that I stumble across and want to consider doing later. It has grown and now has over 100 links. About half are recipes or variations of recipes I have done. Some I'm no longer interested in. This morning I started to weed. The second recipe was this one and has probably been there for 6 months.

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Raspberry Splenda Lemonade One Glass at a Time

One glass at a time. Made from what you already have on hand and compatible with any diet. And tastes great too.
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Easiest French Fries Ever

Cut. Put in oil. Cook for 25 minutes. Eat. No double frying, no watching temperature on the oil, no catches. It just works. The ultimate easy french fry recipe.

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Grilled Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs with Carolina Rub

I'm working my way across the south by recipes and quite enjoy my southern tour; thank you very much. I have done KC, Memphis, Alabama and now the Carolina's.

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Pan Seared Oven Roasted Garlic Skinless Chicken Breast

Quick, moist and quite tasty. It is gloomy, hot and humid outside and I didn't want to pay attention to a grill outside but really I wanted not to work much tonight. I did spend 10 minutes looking for a recipe but really didn't find much.  I have a wonderful parmesan crusted bread chicken breast that is pan seared then oven roasted. It is great if you feel like doing just a little work.
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Healthy Buttermilk Blueberry Buckle with less than 150 calories

It's high blueberry time in west Michigan but it's high diet time in my house. So I healthied it up with decreasing the fat and sugar then add some whole wheat. The results: a must try recipe that is simple to make.

I picked two recipes as models and combined them with my modifications. Alton Brown's recipe used twice the blueberries of the others. It was in since this is all about the blueberries. The other recipe from the Oregon Bed and Breakfast Guild which is a very nice simple basic recipe.

What I wanted to do:
1) Get as many blueberries in as possible.
2) Use Splenda for the sugar to get rid of a lot of simple carbs. (I also happen to be out of white sugar)
3) Add a little whole wheat for taste but not enough to effect the rise much
4) Use buttermilk and a little baking soda to get more rise. While some think blueberry buckle should be dense. I prefer something lighter with crumbs. Also I need the volume for all those blueberries.
5) The top needs to be great. I won't skimp on the butter there. That will be for the next time.

Rating:

9.9 on the Wifo scale (a die hard blueberry lover)
Effort: 9 once I got my design together.

Notes:
If you're not interested in lower calorie then use white sugar for the Splenda and 1/4 cup unsalted butter for the applesauce.
I don't guarantee this but here is nutrition info using 10 servings from http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp . Most other recipes are right at 300 calories.

Amount Per Serving
Calories		146.4
Total Fat		3.8 g
	Saturated Fat	1.9 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.3 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.0 g
Cholesterol		49.1 mg
Sodium		42.4 mg
Potassium		60.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate		24.8 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.4 g
	Sugars	1.2 g
Protein		4.9 g

Printable recipe

Tools: 9 inch nonstick round pan but you can use something else properly coated.

Ingredients:

3 cups blueberries rinsed

Dry Mix
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t table salt
1 t cinnamon
Wet Mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used non fat dry reconstituted)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup granular Splenda (I know it's dry but mix it in here)
Topping
1/3 cup AP flour
1/3 cup granular Splenda
1 t cinnamon
2 T soft butter

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven 375 not convection.

2) Mix dry mix together and mix very well.

3) Mix topping in small bowl and using a fork to cut in butter until all the flour and Splenda in incorporated and granules are small.
4) Combine "Wet Mix" in a large bowl. Whisk for about 1-2 minutes until smooth.

5) Combine 1/3 of dry with the wet. Mix with large spatula folding carefully. Repeat twice more until all incorporated.

6) Fold in blueberries again being gentle with dough.
7) Place in 9 inch nonstick round pan. Spread topping on evenly.
8) Bake in middle rack for about 40 minutes until toothpick returns clean. Remove and let rest for 30 minutes.

Healthy Buttermilk Blueberry Buckle with less than 150 calories

by DrDan at 101 Cooking For Two August 2, 2010

I healthied it up with decreasing the fat and sugar then add some whole wheat. The results: a must try recipe that is simple to make. I picked two recipes as models and combined them with my modifications. Alton Brown's recipe used twice the blueberries of the others. It was in since this is all about the blueberries. The other recipe from the Oregon Bed and Breakfast Guild which is a very nice simple basic recipe. What I wanted to do: 1) Get as many blueberries in as possible. 2) Use Splenda for the sugar to get rid of a lot of simple carbs. (I also happen to be out of white sugar) 3) Add a little whole wheat for taste but not enough to effect the rise much 4) Use buttermilk and a little baking soda to get more rise. While some think blueberry buckle should be dense. I prefer something lighter with crumbs. Also I need the volume for all those blueberries. 5) The top needs to be great. I won't skimp on the butter there. That will be for the next time.

Ingredients

3 cups blueberries rinsed Dry Mix1 1/2 cup AP flour1/2 cup whole wheat flour2 t baking powder1/2 t baking soda1/2 t table salt1 t cinnamon Wet Mix 2 eggs1/2 cup buttermilk (I used non fat dry reconstituted)1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce3/4 cup granular Splenda (I know it's dry but mix it in here) Topping1/3 cup AP flour1/3 cup granular Splenda1 t cinnamon2 T soft butter

Instructions

1) Preheat oven 375 not convection.2) Mix dry mix together and mix very well.3) Mix topping in small bowl and using a fork to cut in butter until all the flour and Splenda in incorporated and granules are small.4) Combine "Wet Mix" in a large bowl. Whisk for about 1-2 minutes until smooth.5) Combine 1/3 of dry with the wet. Mix with large spatula folding carefully. Repeat twice more until all incorporated.6) Fold in blueberries again being gentle with dough.7) Place in 9 inch nonstick round pan. Spread topping on evenly.8) Bake in middle rack for about 40 minutes until toothpick returns clean. Remove and let rest for 30 minutes.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 10 servings

Updated

April 24, 2011